SAP’s McDermott Says Call From Jobs Confirmed Tablet Push

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Bill McDermott, co-chief executive
officer of SAP AG, said a phone call from Steve Jobs in early
2010 helped convince him to move further into tablet computing
as a platform for expansion.

SAP had placed an order for 4,000 Apple Inc. iPads when
Jobs called and asked “what are you doing?,” McDermott said
during an address at the Churchill Club speaker series in Palo
Alto, California yesterday. The order, which was placed before
Apple first began shipping the tablets, was so McDermott could
give them to sales staff and demonstrate SAP’s business
management software.

The conversation helped convince him to invest more in
mobile computing and acquire Sybase Inc. for $5.8 billion in
May 2010. After running through a checklist of features the
iPad lacked, such as the ability to readily print, McDermott
said he told Jobs “I don’t care” and proceeded with his plans.

Shortly after speaking with the Apple founder, McDermott
called Sybase CEO John Chen and said “We have to get married,”
he told the Silicon Valley audience.

Sales for SAP, founded in 1971, are expected to rise 13
percent to 16.1 billion euros ($20 billion) this year, according
to the average of 39 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The company’s American Depositary Receipts rose 0.1 percent
to $65.01 yesterday and have climbed 23 percent this year.

McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe took over as co-CEOs of
the Walldorf, Germany-based software company in February 2010,
and have used acquisitions and internal research and development
to expand in mobile and cloud computing.

“Our user experience hasn’t always been gorgeous,”
McDermott said during the talk, which was moderated by the
business-book author Geoffrey Moore.